Not sure why but I LOVED IT. I was expecting it to be stupid, contrived and silly from the derivative title to the over holiday style but it wasn't. I enjoyed every moment actually. Away from Amy and Rory this Doctor SHINES. The sentimentality was not false in my opinion. I'm sure there are plot holes someplace but this actually lived up to the name of a Doctor Who fairy tale: flying fish, sharks, snow, Xmas on another planet, and a spaceshp that took forever to crash (or was it forever?). The Doctor on the outside of the window was brilliant imagery and I actually thought Sargon or whatever his name was was going to change then and there but...he didn't. I also didn't expect Alison (?name?) to have to die of an illness but she did in the end or at least we can imagine she has to. The colors, the imagery and the fantasy are all better than any other Xmas special except the CHRISTMAS INVASION which was an entirely different creature. The jokes here work as part of the Doctor or part of the plan/plot. I love that every Xmas eve they take ALison out. Pity about the others. Does Sargon take them out too now? Did he change that much? I'd love to know. In any case, I gave this a 9/10. It was much better than most of last season. Pity the promos for season 6 look ....VERY LAME. but I did enjoy this against all reason.

Just jumping on to say that I really enjoyed the Christmas Carol special. I'm not sure all the timey-wimey aspects of it will hold up under scrutiny but it had a magical, surreal, fairy tale kind of vibe that I really liked. And I was worried that the ep would be split between the planet and the ship. I liked that the focus was on the planet and the Doctor. I think I would feel comfortable giving this one of my rare 5-groan ratings.

Now then, what was THAT all about?
I'll admit to not having very high expectations for this years Xmas Special having been disapointed too many times in the past (although I did really like Pt 1 of The End of Time last year!) but after a weekend with the in-laws my wife and I got back home last night and settled down to watch 'A Christmas Carol'.
First off the scenes on the space ship...lens flare looked OK (ish) on the last Star Trek film but here it was just intrusive. In fact it looked like they were shooting with jammy dodger smeared lenses!
Next few scenes were so memorable I've forgotten them. Michael Gambon came out with some good lines but they escape me for the moment.
The little harmless minnow that turned into a shark...a bad (but very predictable)idea made worse by a special effect that made the Myrka look realistic.
Then some sentimental stuff happened...that was telegraphed a mile off as well with the countdown.
Then just when it couldn't get any worse it turns into a twee pop music video!!!!! No No No No!!!!
My main gripe with this story is that their is nothing in it that makes it a Who story. The same script, with very few alterations, could have been used to produce a reasonable, if forgettable, Christmas tale that could have been trotted out ad nauseum on late night cable for years to come. Instead they shoehorned the Doctor Who format into it and gave themselves a sure-fire ratings winner.
By far the best part was the preview of the 2011 season which looks like it features plenty of River Song, and wasn't that the Tardis-esque console from The Lodger I glimpsed?
And finally...honeymoon dress up. The policewoman uniform I can understand but surely the centurion garb is a little, well, unwieldy?
Yours as always
Paul Mabley B.Sc.(Hons), MA
Kitchener, Ontario / South Shields, England

Can't really say many bad things about this. Good thing was that there was not much screen time for Amy Pond. Only real negative was the horrible CGI effect of the sled being pulled by the shark at the end. Other than that a solid 4 out of 5 for me.